A busy day for the Sheerness RNLI inshore lifeboat
The volunteer crew of the Sheerness inshore lifeboat launched to two incidents on Sunday 24 March, both of which could have ended with serious consequences for those involved.
The first call came at 11.54am, whilst the crew were out on exercise off the Sheppey coast, when a call from the UK Coastguard informed that two people were stuck in mud near to Motney Hill, River Medway.
The lifeboat arrived on the scene at 12.47pm and located the two people waist deep in water on the saltings, adjacent to Motney Hill, and quickly took them onboard. They were then transferred to the all-weather lifeboat which was already in the area and had also been tasked to attend the incident.
Once onboard the ALB the crew checked the casualties, who apart from being extremely cold, had no other medical issues.
They were then taken to the lifeboat station in Sheerness Docks and passed into the care of a Kent Ambulance crew.
It is believed that the two young men had been fishing and got into difficulties on the rising tide having thought they were safe.
Sheerness RNLI Lifeboat Coxswain Paul Jarvis said: ‘these lads were very lucky to have been rescued as they were,especially on the flood tide in an area of thick clogging mud out on the saltings. Please always check the tide times and heights before going to areas where you could get cut off. Other areas on and around the Island where we get similar problems on a regular basis are at the beach under Eastchurch/Warden Cliffs, Saltings on the River Medway and the sandbanks off Minster Leas.
The second call for the inshore lifeboat came later that day at 6.47pm when the UK Coastguard informed of a person in a dinghy, in the area of the M2 Bridge at Wickham Reach, Rochester, who was in trouble and drifting after his small craft suffered engine failure.
Launching at 7.00pm with a crew of three the ILB, making best speed, located the casualty at 7.50pm after the 14 nautical mile passage upstream.
Having checked the casualty was ok the lifeboat crew took the dinghy in tow to the Strood Yacht Club pontoon where it was safely secured at 8.40pm and the casualty handed into the care of the Medway Coastguard Rescue Team.
The lifeboat was released at 8.45pm and arrived back on station at 9.30pm and after cleaning and refuelling was ready for further service at 10.10pm.
It later transpired that the chap had apparently just purchased the dingy and was not fully aware of the boats condition and the ensuing engine issues.
Following this incident Paul said: ‘once again lack of knowledge resulted in the problems this chap had. Please enjoy the waters around our local coastline but before taking to the water on or in whatever type of craft you own, or have recently purchased as in this case, make sure everything is in good and working order, all safety equipment is in place and serviceable and that you have a means of contact in case of emergency, finally make sure that you have left details of where you are going and what time you expect to be back with someone onshore’
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
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